


Silent in the trees, standing cowardly

by Pollarize



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 07:16:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7748236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pollarize/pseuds/Pollarize
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I remember the first time we ever met,"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silent in the trees, standing cowardly

**Author's Note:**

> this was based off of a video edit that my friend spent me. i spent an hour trying to find the interview that was in it. i did find it by the way.
> 
> the lovely [sophiejoshler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophiejoshler/pseuds/sophiejoshler) has translated this into русский which you can find [here](https://ficbook.net/readfic/6811412)

_ “I remember the first time we ever met,” _

 

It was pouring down rain that night and realistically, no one should have been on the road. The ground was slippery and puddles were forming in low spots. Cars were skidding over the puddles and some were losing control. It was dangerous.

 

Not only that, it was hard to see. Thick streams of rain were clouding the sky and everything looked gray. Anyone in this weather had a hard time seeing so much as a foot in front of their face. 

 

The winds were blowing all around them and every once in awhile a car would swerve just a little too much. 

 

_ “So, for awhile, I worked with a guy from Texas,” _

 

Josh was drowsy from spending all day with friends. He kept thinking about a bed, sleep, food. He kept thinking about how Tyler would give him kisses and cuddle up next to him. 

 

He thought about how he could take a shower and change into some dry clothes that weren’t cold. 

 

_ “He gave me a demo of this band he was playing with,” _

 

He squinted out onto the road, looking for the signs that would help guide him to their hotel. He just wanted some quiet time, a place to relax.

 

He sent Tyler a quick text:  _ Be back in a few - driving right now _

 

He set his phone down after that.

 

_ “He asked me to come to a show and he was playing with this guy,” _

 

The freeway he needed to get on was backed up for miles and the traffic was moving so slowly.

 

His phone buzzed and he looked over to check it, Tyler’s name lighting up on his screen. Josh smiled before looking up, seeing that the cars in front of him still hadn’t moved. He reached over and grabbed his phone, reading the message and sending a quick reply.

 

_ “I don’t normally throw in a CD that somebody just gives to me, but I listened to it and I thought it was really good,” _

 

The music in his car was loud and obnoxious but that’s the way Josh liked it. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, his head bobbing along to the beat of it. 

 

He found it entertaining to pick apart other people’s music. It was how he learned to do new things himself. He also liked to listen for things that he could already have done better, imagine ways to make the drumline stand out more or fade into the background when necessary.

 

It was an amusing way to pass the time.

 

_ “I went to the show and I remember thinking that I liked everything about it except for one thing, which is that I wasn’t playing with them,” _

 

The cars in front of him started to move and he felt a little bubble of excitement in his chest. As silly as it felt sometimes, he still got excited at the prospect of seeing Tyler.

 

It was like back when he first got a crush on him. That warm feeling of butterflies and nerves that never left his stomach, the excitement that followed with it. He was just as in love with Tyler as the day they met. 

 

_ “We met afterwards, I had just introduced myself and told Tyler that it was a great show and I enjoyed it,” _

 

The train of cars were continuing to move but it was slow going. Everyone was a little hesitant about driving in the downpour. 

 

Josh understood why. He had somebody waiting for him that he wanted to get home safely to. There was a reason for him to be extra cautious.

 

_ “I think it was just a couple days later that we started hanging out and just became really good friends,” _

 

The rain slowed for a little and the speed picked up again. It was still dangerous but people on the road didn’t think about the water on the ground being a problem, they were only worried about seeing where they were going. 

 

Josh never thought about the water on the ground.

 

He was going above the speed limit, keeping up with the others around him when Tyler sent him another text. He looked down at his lap where his phone was rested.

 

_ Be careful, Joshie, I love you _

 

Josh never noticed the way his tires struggled for traction over the water and his car swerved, jolting forward and clipping the car in front of him. His head snapped up, eyes wide as he watched the barrier that divided the road come closer all too fast. He tried to steer his car away from it, salvage what was left of his car, but it was no use. It crunched and rolled, Josh’s head smacking against the frame and a groan slipping from his lips. 

 

His phone screen was still lit with the text message from Tyler.

 

~~~

 

It didn’t take long for Tyler to receive a phone call.

 

_ “Sir, there’s been a crash.” _

 

The rest of the words blurred together as Tyler listened, trying to make sense of what the man was telling him but he couldn’t hear over the pounding in his ears. He had a mantra of  _ Josh, Josh, Josh, Josh,  _ in his head and he was grabbing a coat and hauling ass out of the hotel before he could even hang up. He grabbed a taxi and took it to the local hospital. 

 

He was struggling to see through tears and he felt sick to his stomach but he was in the waiting room and sick people were looking at him and he normally would have panicked about that but he couldn’t focus.

 

“How can we help you, sir?” The receptionist asked, looking him over quickly for any signs of trauma. He thought briefly of the band and what was acceptable, thought briefly of the fans and he didn’t quite care.

 

“My friend, he was in a crash? Is he here?” Tyler asked frantically. 

 

“What’s his name?” She asked patiently.

 

“Joshua Dun,” Tyler provided, watching anxiously as the lady typed on her computer.

 

“We do have record of man named Joshua coming in a few minutes ago but nobody is allowed back yet, and when we do allow that, it’ll only be family.”

 

“Please, that’s my boyfriend,” Tyler said quietly, looking around the waiting room real quick. It wasn’t a lie but he couldn’t let fans know, not yet, especially not now.

 

He was told to sit down and wait and Tyler did with little fight, knowing that he couldn’t do anything to fix this faster. He called Mark as he waited, letting him know what was going on. Thankfully, they were on break from tour, they had a good week off of touring to get rest and enjoy the sights. Tyler wasn’t enjoying the sights at all.

 

Mark showed up, the panic that Tyler felt was reflected on his friends face. Tyler stood up and then immediately burst into tears, stepping forward until Mark wrapped him in a tight hug.

 

“Tyler, come on, what happened?” He asked, trying to hold himself together for Tyler’s sake. His voice was shaky though and Tyler knew that they would both be a mess in a few minutes.

 

“I got a call, there was a crash. They think that Josh was, was,” he paused, pushing back harshly from Mark as vomit threatened to come up. Nothing did and he was just standing in the waiting room, bent over as he choked on his tears. Mark pieced it together and asked a few nurses until he got the information he needed. He was able to keep himself together better than Tyler. 

 

Time passed so slowly and so fast all at once. Tyler wasn’t sure how long he had been up. His eyes were heavy and blurry and he couldn’t make out the words on his phone or the clock. He instead just leaned against Mark and waited until a sad nurse came out and offered her hand to them.

 

“He’s unconscious but you can go back now,” she said quietly and Tyler shot up so fast. He’d have ran all the way to Josh’s room if he knew where it was. The nurse stood outside the door and watched the way Tyler stood next to the bed, his hand trailing over Josh’s bandaged arm gently. She saw the way that he couldn’t open his eyes, the way a tear slipped from them. He let out a quiet sob before he covered his face. 

 

“I can’t be in there,” Tyler said, stepping into the hall next to the nurse. She rested a hand on Tyler’s shoulder, giving him a sad look.

 

“I know, it’s okay. Nobody is gonna blame you, it’s hard to see someone like that.” 

 

Tyler nodded his head and stepped off in the direction of the waiting room.

 

“I need to go let Mark know what’s going on,” he said quietly, turning from the nurse. He didn’t get far, his feet stopping immediately when he heard it.

 

A long tone, an annoying tone, a terrifying tone. Tyler whipped around and saw nurses and doctors all leap for Josh’s room. Noise and commotion and a curtain being pulled back. Tyler’s heart sunk and he stared for a moment before it was too much. He was running down the hall and nobody stopped him. He got to the waiting room and Mark tried to stop him but he was out the door and down the street. He had no idea where he was except for the fact that he was gonna keep going. He was tripping over his feet, stumbling down a dark sidewalk with tears on his cheeks. 

 

His phone was blowing up and he checked it. He regretted it immediately. 

 

_ Mark: Tyler, you need to come back. I know this is a hard situation but Josh would want you to be here with your friends, he’d want you to be here with me and the guys and help each other. _

 

Tyler hated how right he was.

 

_ Tyler: stop talking like hes gone hes not gone hes not _

 

_ Mark: They just came out and told us he passed away, Tyler you can’t do this to me. _

 

_ Tyler: hes not gone _

 

Tyler’s hands were in his hair, his phone vibrating again and again and he was so overwhelmed. He threw it against the wall next to him, watching as pieces flew off of it. It wasn’t buzzing anymore. Then his fist was hitting the wall. Tyler was screaming and his knuckles were bloodied and he knew they’d bruise. He knew they’d break. He knew his voice would be shot and he wouldn’t be able to sing.

 

He knew he had a concert the next night. 

 

It took a few hours and a couple of breakdowns before he found the hospital again. Mark hadn’t slept. He was sitting out on the curb, looking both directions for any sign of Tyler. He noticed the lack of a phone and his fist but didn’t comment.

 

“Let’s get sleep. We’ll figure out what to do about the band tomorrow.”

 

But tomorrow came and they still had no idea. Tyler was the one to finally decide, his voice emotionless and his eyes so spacey.

 

“Cancel all of the shows except tonight. I’ll tell them tonight. He was my best friend.”

 

Nobody else had any ideas that wouldn’t end in heartbreak, they figured that maybe it would be good for Tyler to be the one to confess the story of what had happened.

 

The show came faster and his twitter was blowing up, fans asking what happened that caused so many shows to go away.

 

_ “@tyjoseph: they canceled both msg shows, something happened” _

 

_ “@trashdun: im concerned” _

 

_ “@portlandclique: do you think that they broke up?” _

 

Time came for Tyler to step on stage and he had been fighting with himself. Did he go on alone? Did he ask someone else to go with him? He knew Darren would go. 

 

“Tyler, I’ll help you carry this set. You need one last show, music is you,” Darren said finally, pushing him gently towards the stage. Tyler was in his heavydirtysoul suit, the mask pulled over his face, covering the pain that was there. Mark handed Darren Josh’s old mask and Tyler yanked it from the two of them, panic swelling and tears forming.

 

“No, stop, that was Josh’s you can’t just fucking give it away!” He yelled, chest heaving. They all stared at him, eyes wide because Tyler Joseph just cursed. He was angry and broken and he walked on stage without much other help, standing still in front of the microphone. The fans screamed and cheered but it died when Darren took a seat at the drums and began. 

 

Tyler played through the first few songs, not once walking over to stage right, not once looking at the drum set. People took notice and after Hometown when he pulled the mask off his face, he knew he looked bad. 

 

He was back on stage and he played through the entire set, knowing that the audience was confused and disappointed. Tyler was right there with him.

 

But it was time for trees and he wanted to make an eloquent speech but he couldn’t. All that was on his mind was  _ Josh, Josh, Josh,  _ and now was as good a time as any.

 

“Thank you for tonight,” he said, waiting for the screams to die away. 

 

“I just wanted you all to know how important you’ve been to me getting here. I would never have stood on this stage in this lovely town if it weren’t for all of you.” He felt the tears coming and he knew that his voice wouldn’t work properly and that it would be near impossible to get through this song.

 

“I want to dedicate Trees to Joshua William Dun tonight,” he paused and breathed, hiding his face in his shoulder before he stood up straight again, his fingers pressing out chords, harsher, angry. He sniffled and was pretty sure the microphone picked it up.

 

“There was a car crash last night. Nobody was to blame, the roads were wet,” but Tyler paused because he knew he was to blame. His text was read moments before the doctors had assumed impact was caused.

 

“But the wreck was bad. Josh, my best friend forever, passed away last night.” The entire arena was silent, their eyes shifting between Tyler and Darren as the realization hit.

 

_ “I know where you stand, silent in the trees. And that’s where I am.” _

 

Tyler only got halfway through the song before he broke down, sobbing on the stage. The crowd picked up for him and they screamed the words to him, most of them unable to get through it completely. The end of the show came and Darren stood with Tyler in front of everyone. 

  
“We were Twenty One Pilots but you will forever be. You will help us live on and help people, thank you, goodnight.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't text and drive, kids.


End file.
